>>46785140The way I figure, by canon depiction MOST Pokemon are shown to be able to survive just fine on kibble and berries, and I figure that would carry over to some extent to PMD. However, using canon as a reference point, there is also plenty of evidence pointing to predation both in the mainline games and PMD (Team Tasty may only exist as a joke, but that Wurmple's fear is far from unfounded, know what I mean?). Of course, in a world where Pokemon are almost all sapient instead of generally being slightly elevated above animal status (see ongoing discourse in this very thread), the implications of one dude eating another are pretty heavy. Definitely agree that it's a subject to be handled carefully or to just be ignored outright if you don't wanna put the effort in.
So, what I settled on is that because Pokemon flesh is hypernutritious on a level we in the real world can only dream about carnivorous Pokemon - a minority, counting all species, but a significant one nonetheless - only NEED to eat meat infrequently, maybe once a month on average; the rest is filled in with a generally vegetarian diet. Think like a cow made of Lembas bread, right? But since that cow is also your co-worker Jim, you can't exactly just lop his head off and chow down.
Okay, maybe this analogy got away from me a bit. Important thing is that there's an animistic, ritualistic aspect to it almost universally in my world, although exact procedures vary by population (see
>>46773856 for one such example). By combination of giving the very act of consumption this kind of gravitas, pushing for scavenging as the norm rather than hunting, and making it an infrequent necessity, I hope to give my world that kind of weight without necessarily making it a crazy grimdark hellhole where nature necessitates constant murder. Hopefully I can actually manage that in the long-run without making an ass of myself.